


No Pancake Houses

by taralkariel



Category: Black Widow (Comics), Captain America - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Military, F/M, Natasha-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-07
Updated: 2017-01-07
Packaged: 2018-09-15 09:19:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9228557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taralkariel/pseuds/taralkariel
Summary: After losing her husband, Alexei, Natasha Romanoff is uninterested in dating and just focused on serving her country.  Until she keeps running into a certain James Barnes.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [murderonthemattress (gingertintedglasses)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingertintedglasses/gifts).



> A gift for murderonthemattress - I hope it lives up to your expectations!

The first time she saw him, it was in the hallway.  Natasha was just leaving a rather unpleasant meeting with her commanding officer and walked past the meeting rooms.  It was a hallway of closed doors.  Except for one.  How many people were in there or what they were discussing, she hadn’t noticed.  But she had noticed the man sitting in the back, who smiled at her as she walked by.  Preoccupied with her thoughts, she’d offered an automatic return smile and kept walking.  The incident didn’t stick out as remarkable and it was some time before she thought of it again.

The second time she saw him, it was across the bar a week or so later.  The establishment was a favorite haunt of the enlisted, not often visited by top brass, so she figured he didn’t outrank her.  He’d been in civilian clothes both times she’d seen him, but she could tell he was military.  It was obvious, after being surrounded by soldiers for most of her life.

Again, he smiled at her and the one with which she responded was ever so slightly warmer than the first time.  She didn’t stick around to see if he intended to approach her.  Carter – her friend and roommate – had insisted she go out tonight.  She hadn’t specified for how long, and the girl had already found someone more interesting to talk to – a tall blond man with a pleasant smile.  Natasha had no desire to watch them flirt with each other all evening, or be flirted with herself, so she headed back to base.

The third time she saw him, she learned his name.  Not officially, but she happened to be in the mess when he came in, with the tall blond Carter had been talking to.  They were obviously good friends and it was sort of nice to see him smile at someone besides her.  He called the blond man “Steve,” and was called “Bucky” in return.  That was something of a surprise – he didn’t look like he was in his nineties, as all the other people who ever went by that name probably were.

He didn’t notice her and she wasn’t going to feel disappointed by that.

The fourth time was different.  Carter had been seeing the blond – Steve – for a while and badgered Natasha into coming on a double date to a New Year’s party.  Steve had a friend, see, and if Nat didn’t make herself available, everyone would assume she had a boy back home.  Natasha wasn’t sure that would be a bad thing, and considered how convenient such an impression might be.

But she had an idea of whom Steve’s friend in question was, and, well, you couldn’t blame a girl for being curious.

Carter couldn’t know about their random interactions, but was certainly insistent on Natasha looking her best for the party.  Secretly she was pleased – Bucky or whatever his name was had mainly seen her in uniform.  Though in civvies at the bar, she’d just been wearing jeans and a jacket, nothing fancy.  Now she had an excuse to wear that black dress she’d bought on a whim over a month ago.

When they got to the party, it was clear that both of them looked great from the way the men were reacting to them.  Natasha considered that, given the ratio of males to females, making it clear that she was single might quickly mean she was overwhelmed with interested parties.  So maybe this was a dumb idea – she could have asked Carter to have Steve introduce her to his friend in some other setting.

Too late for that, though.

“Looks like they’re not here yet,” Carter said, scanning the crowd.

“Oh no,” Natasha replied drily.

Carter wrinkled her nose at her.  “You could try having fun for a change, you know.”

“That’s technically accurate,” was her sardonic response.

With a dramatic sigh, Carter pulled her over to the bar, saying something about how she’d need to work fast to get Nat ready to socialize.  Always a woman to complete whatever task she set her mind to, Carter succeeded in getting Nat noticeably more open to companionship by the time Steve and his friend showed up.

It was strange to see Carter become a bit less self-assured at the sight of Steve, and he was surprisingly awkward.  Surprising to Natasha, anyway, who had assumed he’d be pretty familiar with talking to women by now, given his overall appearance.  Trailing behind him was Bucky, and she felt an unexpected flutter in her chest at the sight of him.  He cleaned up pretty nice, she had to admit.

“Natasha, you remember Steve Rogers.  And this is James Barnes,” Carter introduced them.  Perhaps she had met James – Bucky? – before because Natasha was apparently the only one who needed introducing.

“Hello,” Steve said with a friendly politeness, clearly more interested in Carter.

“A pleasure, I’m sure,” James offered with more warmth, taking her hand in a way that made her think, for a moment, the he might kiss it.  He just shook it but didn’t let go quite as quickly as would have been appropriate.

It wasn’t like no one ever flirted with her, or that being around handsome men was enough to get her flustered.  But something made it difficult for her to think straight – damn Carter and the booze – so she just smiled.  Fortunately, Carter was more than willing to carry the conversation for the bulk of the evening, and Natasha tried to do more than just smile at James.  Bucky was his childhood nickname, apparently, so Steve was the only one who called him that.  The two had been friends their whole lives.  Natasha wondered what that could be like.  Coming from a military family, she’d never stayed in the same place long enough to form such lasting relationships.

The party began to wind down unexpectedly – she wasn’t usually among the last people to leave.  Steve and James offered to walk the two of them home, so naturally she fell into step next to James, who seemed to be slowing down.  When she noticed Carter and Steve becoming increasingly far ahead of them, she glanced over at him sharply.

“Your friend’s a nice girl, but I’d rather hear you get a word in edgewise,” he explained with a grin.

She smiled a little awkwardly.  “She doesn’t usually go on like that, you know.  Maybe she was nervous.”

He shrugged at her defense of Carter.  “So’s Steve.  I’m sure they’ll be very happy together.  Tell me about yourself.”

“What, like, where I grew up, how many siblings I have?” Nat suggested with wide eyes.

With a snort, he glanced up toward the retreating backs of their friends.  “If that’s what you want to talk about, I’m sure I’d love to hear it.”  When he looked at her again, he seemed rather serious.  “But I should warn you that I’ve heard stories about you already.”

“Of my failures, no doubt.”

“Of your charm,” he corrected gently, watching her.

She couldn’t think of anyone who would consider her charming – she was ambitious and not overly friendly.  Neither trait won her any points with either gender, but men tended to be wary of her.  Carter had told her a rumor that made it sound like the accident that killed her first husband had been orchestrated by her.  And she’d come all the way here in hopes of avoiding anyone even knowing about Alexei.  She had the internet to thank, she supposed.

Aware that she’d been silent for some time, she looked up and was surprised to find him waiting patiently.  For what, she didn’t know.  “I’m sure you misheard them, then,” she said finally.

“I have excellent hearing,” he insisted in a mock-offended tone, and that teased a small smile out of her.  “I would like to get to know you better,” he added with a hint of solemnity.

She pursed her lips and didn’t answer.  If he knew about her past, maybe she didn’t want to spend any more time with him.  She hadn’t been looking for anything serious.  “Why?” she asked coldly.

The fact that he paused to consider a real answer made his next statement more believable.  “Because I think we’re made of similar stuff.”

“Alright,” she relented.  Which led to the fifth time she saw him.

He picked her up for dinner and she wasn’t going to be nervous.  It had been a long time since she’d dated anyone, but she could handle this.  Or so she told herself, anyway.

The way he smiled at her when she opened the door did nothing to help her maintain composure and she strongly reconsidered the decision to go out with him.  But Carter would never let her live it down, so she smiled back and let took his arm when he offered – a bit of gallantry she hadn’t expected.

“Where are we going?”

“There’s a place that makes great pancakes a few miles away.  I can drive us if you like, but I was thinking we could walk,” he suggested, a note of hesitation coloring his tone.

She was thankful that her shoe choice made her amenable to that idea.  It was a lovely evening and she enjoyed taking walks.  This one was more pleasant than usual and they reached the restaurant much faster than she had expected.

Unlike the last time she’d seen him, he started them off on some light topics.  It was common get-to-know-you, first date stuff.  He had grown up with four sisters in Indiana before moving to New York, where he met Steve.  They were clearly best friends and James related a few cute stories of their childhood antics before she noticed him pause for the second time when referring to his father.

She considered whether or not to ask him about that while they ordered.  Curiosity won out – as usual.  “What happened to him?”

“Who?” he asked, the fond smile from the story he’d just related fading as he registered her serious tone.

“Your father.  If it’s not overstepping,” she added quickly.

From the set in his jaw, she didn’t expect him to answer.  But his eyes lost their faraway look to focus on her, which didn’t make her feel any more comfortable.  “He died in an accident during a training exercise.”

The blandness of his tone made it impossible to tell how he felt about it, or if he knew how she would feel about something so familiar.  “I’m sorry to hear that,” she said evenly after a brief pause.  “How old were you?”

“About ten.”

They waited in silence for a few minutes while their food arrived and she considered what to say.  But she was saved from the trouble because he started talking again.

“I’m sure I went into the service because of him.  And because of how well they took care of us – my mom especially – afterward.  Is that… is that why you joined?” he asked quietly, glancing up at her.

She shook her head slowly.  “No, my family’s worked for the government for generations.  So I joined right after high school.  I met him in the service.”  Talking about her first husband was not good first date material but he gave her an encouraging look when she stopped.  “I thought about getting out, after he died.  I was angry.  But, um, I figured civilian life wasn’t for me.  I’d always wanted to serve, you know?”

“I do.”  His expression was certainly understanding and she smiled slightly.

Clearing her throat, she picked up her silverware.  “Let’s eat, James.  We can talk about this kind of thing some other time.”

A hesitant smile crossed his face.  “When?”

The question threw her for a moment, but she covered by taking a bite of her food.  Then she grinned.  “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the sixth or seventh date?”

He looked surprised and maybe a little shy.  “I’d like that.”

It was late by the time they’d walked back to her barracks and she was relieved to consider that she had the next day off.  Not that she would have wanted to cut the date short just to get to bed on time.  He wasn’t like anyone she’d met in a long time and she lingered by the door, unwilling to put an end to the night.

“Thank you for the evening,” he said in an overly formal tone, a smile tugging at his lips.

“Thank you for dinner,” she countered in the same tone.

If he’d been wearing a hat, he probably would have tipped it as he took a step back, preparing to turn away.  The rules of dating were rusty but she didn’t figure he’d mind, so she reached for his hand to pull him back for a kiss.

“When can I see you again?” he murmured when they came up for air.

“Tomorrow?”

Grinning, he nodded and reluctantly released her.  “Good night, Natasha.”

“Just one thing, James.”

“What’s that?”  He’d paused, concerned.

Adopting a serious expression, she looked him in the eye.  “No more pancake houses.”

Laughing, he pulled her in for another kiss.  “I can deal with that.”


End file.
